Joe Alexander was born in Taiwan, spent his middle school years in Beijing before settling 45 minutes west of Baltimore in a place called Fort Airy, Md. Yesterday, much to Jim Calhoun and Connecticut’s despair, he was out of this hemisphere, if not this world.

Bobby Knight called Alexander the most valuable player to his team in the country down the stretch of the season … an ESPN compliment that came only hours before the 6-8, 220-pound junior put a 34-spot on the Huskies in West Virginia’s heart-and-soul 78-72 Big East quarterfinal victory.

“What an amazing compliment coming from Bobby Knight,” Alexander said. “It just makes me feel good because I worked so hard for this, to be honest. And this coaching staff, if they hadn’t come here and shown me how to play, I wouldn’t be this player, so it’s a compliment to me and to our coaches.”

It left Calhoun in no mood for compliments. Alexander and the Mountaineers, who craved this one to definitively punch their ticket to the Big Dance, clearly wanted the game more than Calhoun’s team did. When you watch their David outrebound your Goliath 42-26, and win the battle of wills, you have every right to smolder.

“I take nothing out of this game except for the fact that we didn’t compete the way we should have competed to win a game like that,” Calhoun said. “My concern is our focus on how important was it to win here in the neighborhood, in the Big East, in Madison Square Garden, and just apparently it was a lot more important for West Virginia to work harder.”

Alexander (12-of-22 shooting) scored 10 consecutive points for his team at a time in the second half when the Huskies needed to make their move. He’d blow by defenders with an explosive first step; he’d bring the ball up; he’d beat the traps with savvy and poise and he’d show off his newly-found post moves. Hell, Billy Crystal probably couldn’t have guarded him.

Bob Huggins has helped Alexander – too quick outside for bigs, too big in the post for guards – the toughest matchup in the Big East.